Helmet head suspension



Ma 12, 1970 D. D. WEBB. 3,510,879

HELMET HEAD SUSPENSION Filed July 24. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvsmon DANIEL o. wees ATTORNEYS y 2,1970 D. D. WEBB 3,510,879

HELMET HEAD SUSPENSION Filed July 24, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR DANIEL D. WEBB BY %MM {6% ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,510,879 HELMET HEAD SUSPENSION Daniel D. Webb, Birmingham, Mich., assignor t American Safety Equipment Corporation of Michigan, Oak

Park, Mich.

Filed July 24, 1968, Ser. No. 747,169 Int. Cl. A42b 3/02 US. Cl. 2-3 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A helmet head suspension including a stiffened headband located at the open bottom of the helmet shell and an upper, flexible band secured to the shell at spaced intervals, with the headband having upwardly extending tabs secured to the upper band at spaced apart locations, and a pair of opposed, flexible, side straps interconnecting the headband and upper band between the tabs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improvement of helmet headbands of the type disclosed in the Us. Pat. No. 3,137,859 to Zbikowski, granted June 23, 1964, and more particularly, to an improvement to make such type headbands useful in military type or so-called anti-ballistic type helmets.

Military type helmets typically are formed of a hard, inverted bowl-shaped shell, which in some cases may be made of plastic and in turn, covered with a metal outer shell. A headband type suspension is provided within the shell to support it upon the wearers head and to space the head from the shell.

Presently used types of suspension have several deficiencies, including lack of durability under sustained use, inadequate support so that the helmet tends to fall off the wearers head upon sudden motions, inadequate maintenance of space between the head and the shell under impact, and the like.

Hence, this invention is concerned with providing a headband type of suspension which will overcome or substantially reduce a number of the above as well as other deficiencies.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION This invention contemplates utilizing a thin, stiif plastic-type headband arranged within, but free of and spaced from the interior of a military type helmet shell and secured thereto by means of integral, stiff tabs secured to a flexible band located above the headband, which flexible band in turn is secured to the shell and with the flexible band and headband being further interconnected by a pair of side restraining or motion limiting straps, the combination thereby providing a secure mounting of the helmet upon the wearers head and permitting a limited amount of helmet motion relative to the head.

Thus, an object of this invention is to provide a mili tary type helmet suspension comprising a relatively stiif headband which is spaced from but movably mounted, within limits, to the interior of the helmet shell for a limited movement of the helmet shell relative to the wearers head but for maintaining the proper spacing needed for ballistic impact protection as well as for proper ventilation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a military type suspension which is durable, inexpensive, easy to maintain and clean, and which securely mounts the helmet shell upon the wearers head, resisting the tend ency to disengage upon sudden movement of the wearer.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevational view of a mili tary type helmet with the suspension herein.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the helmet and suspension only, taken in the direction of arrows 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perpsective view of the suspension, per se, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, perspective view of a fragmentary portion of the suspension.

FIG. 5 is a perspective, fragmentary view of a portion of the upper band shell connection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates a typical military type helmet which comprises an inverted bowl-shaped shell 11. The shell may be made of a suitable metal, such as steel, or may be of the so-called plastic helmet liner type over which a steel shell is fitted, or the entire shell may be made of fibrous glass reinforced polyester resin used without a steel shell.

Mounted deeply within the shell is an upper band 12, preferably formed of a flexible webbing type of material. The upper band is secured to the shell (see FIG. 2) at the forward and rear portions of the shell and at a pair of opposite side portions by means of suitable rivets 13. Preferably, each of the connection points of the band to the shell is covered by an inserted, triangular shaped plate 14 (see FIG. 5) provided with a hole 15 through which the rivet 13 is passed. Such plates tend to maintain the band portions located between the rivets in tension despite the curvature of the shell.

Spaced beneath the upper band, and with the shell, is the headband 16 which is constructed similarly to that type disclosed in the above mentioned US. Pat. No. 3,137,859.

The headband is formed of a front part 17 and a rear part 18 whose ends are overlapped and interconnected by means of snap fastener studs 19 secured to the forward part and engaging into holes 20 formed on the rear part to thereby form a releasable, size adjustable connection. Other suitable interconnections may also be used to provide for the size adjustment of the headband.

The headband is preferably formed of a thin, relatively stiff plastic sheet, such as of a suitable polyethylene or polyvinylchloride plastic or the like. Such plastic is char acterized by being flexible enough to bend into the headband shape but remains relatively stiff and is smooth surfaced.

Integral with the headband parts are upwardly extending curved tabs 21 (see FIG. 4) secured by rivets or the like 22 to the upper band. In addition, webbed side straps 23 further interconnect the upper band and the headband at the rear side points of securement to the shell of the upper band and by means of rivets 24 or the like to the headband.

A folded, webbed, overhead strap 25 is secured at its lower end 26 by the rivet 22 to the juncture between each of the tabs 21 and the upper band. The looped upper ends 27 of these overhead straps are interconnected by a tie cord 28.

Preferably, a resilient crown pad 30, formed of a resilient foam plastic material, is located in the area of the tie cord for better comfort. Thus, the overhead straps overlap the crown pad and to hold the crown pad in place, holes 31 are extended through it to receive the tie cord so that looped or bent lower portions 32 of the tie cord pass beneath the crown pad to thereby hold it in position by means of the same tie cord that interconnects the overhead straps.

Where desired, a rear flap 34 may be added to the headband to better secure-it to the wearers head. The flap is scooped shaped to fit the base of the wearers skull and may be constructed similarly to that disclosed in the US. Pat. No. 3,314,077 to Marchello, granted Apr. 18, 1967. The flap may be sewen or otherwise secured to the lower edge of the rear portion of the headband and may be folded upwardlywhen not wanted, although usually it is worn in the down position as illustrated in FIG. 1, where it grasps the 'base of the skull and better retains the helmet in position on the wearers head.

With the foregoing described structure, the headband is spaced from the shell, and is secured thereto through the means of the flexible upper band. Thus, the shell may move relative to the headband but its movement is limited or restrained by means of the side straps 23 with the result that sudden movements of the wearers body will not disengage the helmet from his head as is common in presently available military type helmets. Likewise, upon impacts to the helmet, the shell will move a limited amount relative to the head and the energy of impact will tend to be dissipated by the various straps, band, side bands, etc., to reduce the impact actually transmitted to the head.

This invenion may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of an operative embodiment of this invention, and not in a strictly limited sense.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I now claim:

1. A head suspension construction in a helmet formed of an inverted, approximately bowl-shaped shell having front, rear and side portions, comprising:

a narrow, thin, flexible, approximately horizontally arrangement arranged upper band located deep within the shell and secured thereto at the front, rear and at a spaced apart pair of points on each side portion;

a thin, narrow headband, located a distance beneath the upper band, near the open bottom of the shell, and formed of a relatively stiff sheet material;

the headband having integral upwardly extending tabs connected to the upper hand between each adjacent pair of front and side securements and rear and side securements between the upper band and shell;

a flexible, flat, narrow strap interconnecting the headband to the upper band at each side of the shell between adjacent tabs.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said straps each being connected to the upper band at the rearmost side securement thereof to the shell.

3. A construction as defined in claim 1, and including overhead straps, each having one end connected to the junction between a tab and the upper band and an opposite end connected by flexible means to the opposite ends of the other straps for fitting and resting upon the upper surface of a wearers head.

4. A construction as defined in claim 1, and including an inverted triangular shaped plate positioned over the upper band at each of its points of securement to the shell to thereby maintain in tension the upper band portions located between each pair of adjacent securement points.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,137,859 6/1964 Zbikowski 23 3,314,077 4/ 1967 Marchello 23 3,089,144 5/1963 Cherup 23 ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner 

